Obesity Epidemic Has Roots in the 50's

       A leading fitness and nutrition expert at Louisiana State University believes that the obesity epidemic began in the 1950's, when mothers smoked, bottle fed, and restricted their weight during close together pregnancies. Women in the 50's were advised by doctors to keep their weight gain down to around 10 pounds during pregnancy. This inadequate nutrition could have programmed their babies to catch up on growth during infancy, and studies suggest that such growth spurts increase risk of obesity. Also, smoking during pregnancy is thought to contribute to obesity for the baby as nicotine disrupts appetite, metabolic rate and fat storage.
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-obesity-causes-20111219,0,6170668.story